Manufacture of expanded-metal structures



Dec. 31, 1929. A. J. BATES, JR

MANUFACTURE OF EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1,

Filed March 26, 1928 Dec. 31, 1929. A. J. BATES, JR 1,741,273

MANUFACTURE OF EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURES Filed March 26, 1928 2 Shaets-Sheet 2 6282 &I/ 2 3 Patented Dec. 31, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT J. BATES, armor, cHIcAGo. ILLINOIS, Assrenon T0 BATES-EXPANDED STEEL moss.- COMPANY, OF EASTCHICAGO, INDIANA, A CORPORATION or DELAWARE MANUFACTURE OF EXPANDED-METAL STRUCTURES Application filed March 26, 1928. Serial No. 264,706.

mor'e'lines, to form bearingportions torest on. suitable supports;

The primary obj ect of the invention is to expedite andreduce the cost of manufacture of expanded metal structures, such as jolsts, and this is attained fundamentally by suitably slitting a longflanged'beam' to render it expansible,.tlien heating, and tliensevering it'into a pluralityor series o'f sections of suitable length, to form joists of the desired length.

A further object is to differentially slit those p'ortions of' the'beam which areto form the ends of the joists-or structures relatively to the intermediate portions, so that when the beam is severed intosections",.each will have its ends shaped't'o' efficiently support the medial portion of=the structure,to form bearmgs.

Another object of the invention 1s to produce a plurality'or series ofexpanded? metal structures, such as oists orbeams from a long beam and to leave uncut predetermined portions of 'thebeam which, when the-beam is expandedand'severed into sections, will form suitable endportions ontlie upper longitudinal'm'embers of the structure to form-bearing portions without waste of metal;

Other objects of' the inventionwill appear from the detailed description.

The invention" consists in the severalnovel features hereinafter setforth and more particularly defined-by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In'the drawings: Fig. 1 is an elevation of the blank" or beam- Fig. 2.; is an elevation show-ing'the manner of slitting: the beam. Fig; 8 is an elevation showing: the slitted beam after it has been expanded to form a trussed structure. FigJtis an. elevation'of one of the sections severed from the longexpanded beamto form a joist. Fig. 5 is an elevation of an end portion'ofthe joist. on a somewhat larger scale. Fig. 6is an elevation of the beam'before it has been expanded; Fig. 7 isa section takenon line 7 7 of Fig; 5. Fig. 8 is an elevation of a beam used in the fabrication of the joist shown inFig; 11.

Fig. 9 is an elevation showing the manner: of slitting a long blank or beam in, the. production of different forms of joists. is an elevation showing the slitted beamof Fig. 9 after it has been expanded. Fig.11 is an elevation of one of the sections cut from the expanded structures. shown in Fig: 10. Fig. 12 is an end portion of the structure shown in Fig. 11 on a somewhat larger scale. Fig. 13 is an enlarged cross-section of the beam shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 14 is a section on line 1 l140f Fig. 12.

In the manufacture of expanded metal structures in accordancewith the present invention, a' beam A is provided of sufficientlength to form two or more oists or structures of the desired length. The beam A;

comprises an integral topflangea', an-inte gral lower flange a and a connecting web ta This beam is slitted in a shearing Ina-- chine which' may be ofthe type set forth in. i

an application for Letters Patent filed by me November 15, 1926, SerialNo. 146,332, which will cut slits with bonds between them through the web a along three lines extending longitudinally of the bar, the bonds between the strands of the web being staggered so that when the bar is expanded, the strands are adapted to form crossed oppositely ex.- tending diagonal tension and compression members between the upper and lower longi tudinal members. The end portions of'the finished joists or beam are usually slitted differently than the intermediate portions to advantageously distribute the metal of the web to increase resistance against bending moment in the zones adjacent and inwardly of the supports for the ends. For this purpose provision is made in the machine set forth in said application for selectively rendering one or more of the shearing mechanisms for the lines of slits respectively inoperative to omit one or more slits from predetermined portions of the web of the beam.

In Figs. 1 to 7 of the drawings, the invention is applied to the manufacture of the metal joists set forth in an application filed by. me October 8, 1927, Serial No. 22 1,5302, in which an expanded integrally flanged beam, which has its end portions formed to bring the points of intersection of the stress lines close to the supported portions of the ends to increase the resistance against bending moment in the Zones adjacent and inwardly of the supports for the ends, by omitting the slit to form, one of the diagonal truss members adjacent each end, to leave the strand in the web of the upper longitudinal member of the structure.

The beam is sheared, as shown in Fig. 2, to form an upper line of longitudinal slits a with bonds A between them; a lower line of slits a with similar bonds between them;

and a central or intermediate series of slits a which are staggered relatively to slits a and a to form expansible strands a and a with connecting bonds a between the strands. A portion a of the web remains unitedto the upper flange a and a portion a remains on the lower flange, to reinforce the longitudinal members of the finished structure. In shearing the beam for a plurality of joists, these three lines of slits a a and a are extended over predetermined zones which are spaced. apart,'and each of said zones is sufficient in length to form the intermediate portion of one joist, and to provide in such portion crossed diagonals or truss members. Between the zones which are regularly slitted as aforesaid, the beam is differently sheared or treated, to form suitable end portions on the respective sections 7 severed from the long beam. In each of the latter zones, one of the lower series of slits a is elongated to form a slit a" to permit separation of the upper and lower longitudinal members in expansion of the beam; an elongated portion a in the line of the strands a and a is leftattached to the upper longitudinal member between two of the central. lines of slits a"; and the slits a of the upper line are omitted for a suflicient distance to leave a long web portion a united to the upper longitudinal member to portion a throughout the length of said portion and of two strands a These differentially slit-ted zones are alternated with the uniformly slitted zones and are of sufficient length, so that when the beam is severed transversely into sections medially of said zone, suitable end portions will remain on the sections to form bearing portions on the linished joists. Each end portion of the bar A is slitted to form web portions (1 and a for one end of the joist.

' Next, the beam is heated and expanded by separating the upper and lower longitudinal members thereof uniformly throughout the length of the beam. This expansion of the beam will cause the strands a and a to form crisscross trussing in the joist with substantially parallel diagonal or truss members between the vertical web of the upper and lower members, and oppositely extending series of diagonal or truss members between the webs of the upper and lower members and medially united with the diagonal members a Next, the upper member, including the top flange a and the integral remaining portion of the web beneath it is severed on lines a which are at the longitudinal center of the portions a and a. The lower member of the beam is severed transversely on lines indicated at a. Each section cut from the beam will then have end portions a which are adapted to support the joist. Each portion a will comprise a web-portion of a height equal to the'aggregate height of the web a the strands a and the strands a. The portions a betweenthe end portions (4 and the second diagonal truss members will be of a height equal to the aggregate height of web a and one of the strands a or truss-members a. In this formation the intersection of stress lines in the uppermemher and the diagonal tension members are projected endwise close to the ends of the joists, and the metal of the diagonals, which would otherwise form downwardly and outwardly extending diagonal truss members adjacent the ends of the truss, and which diagonal members are substantially nonstress members, is utilized in providing additional reinforcement to prevent bending of the member a. This strengthens the joist and prevents sagging adjacent the supports. If desired, the end portions a of the beam may be provided with lower bearing plates. as set forth in the aforesaid application No. 224,802.

In the manufacture of the joist exhibited in Figs. 8 to 14, a beam A of the desired. length is used to form a series of joists corresponding to the construction set forth in an application of Albert J. Bates and myself, Serial No. 141,702 filed October 15, 1926. The beam is sheared in zones which are spaced apart and adapted to form crossed diagonal truss-members between the upper and lower longitudinal members, that is, with slits a a and a and bonds A as previously described. Between the regularly slitted zones are differentially treated web-portions which are used to form the end-portions of the finished joist-s. In each of the differential zones, onc of the central lines of slits is elongated, as at a and a slit is omitted from the upper line a so that the portion a will be aggregate in height of the web portiona and a strand a and the end portion of the lower longitudinal member will be of a hei ht equal to that of the web-portion a and a strand a Next, the beam will be heated and expanded into the shape shown in Fig. 10, to produce alternating series of criss-cross truss members integrally united to the upper and lower longitudinal members and portions a of sufficient length so that when they are medially severed, the upper and longitudinal members will have end portions to form bearing portions for the joists. In the end portions of beam A, the slit a and portion 00 are onehalf of the length of the portions between the regularly slitted zones to form portions of sufficient length to form one end-portion of a joist.

After the beam has been slitted and expanded in this manner, the upper longitudinal member is transversely severed medially of the uncut portion a, and the lower longitudinal member is severed. on lines (L82 and a- When thus cut, each section will form a double expanded truss joist of the shape shown in Fig. 10.

In both forms of joists shown, the ends of the lower longitudinal members are preferably cut off to leave them in suspension when the joist is supported in its place.

The invention exemplifies a method of manufacturing flanged expanded metal joists, by which long lengths of beams are suitably sheared and expanded in such manner that when they are severed into sections, each section will form a joist or similar structure with integral formations at its ends suitable for supporting the joists. his method is of a special advantage in reducing the cost of production in joists and similar structures of comparatively short lengths.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. That improvement in the manufacture of expanded metal structures which consists in slitting zones of the web of a flanged beam to render the beam expansible into structures including diagonal truss members, and differentially slitting the portions of the web between said zones to form suitable end parts for the structures; expanding the slitted beam; and severing the beam transversely through the slitted portions of the web that form the end parts in order to form separate, expanded structures. 7

2. That improvement in the manufacture of expanded metal structures which consists in slitting along difierent longitudinal lines, zones of the web of an I-beam to render the beam expansible into structures having upper and lower longitudinal members and integral diagonal members, and slitting the portions of the web between said zones in such a man ner that suitable end parts of a different character are formed for the structures and there are no slits along one of the aforesaid lines; expanding the slitted beam; and severing the beam transversely through the slitted portions of the web that form the end parts in order to form separate, expanded structures.

3. That improvement in the manufacture of expanded metal structures which consists in slitting along different longitudinal lines, zones of the web of a flanged beam to render the beam expansible into structures having upper and lower longitudinal members and integral diagonal members, and slitting the portions of the web between said zones in such a manner that the end slits of one of the aforesaid lines are cross-connected and suitable end parts are formed for the structures; expanding the slitted beam; and severing the beam transversely into sections to form separate, expanded structures.

4. That improvement in the manufacture of expanded metal structures which consists in slitting the web of a long length of a flanged beam along three longitudinal lines throughout zones of predetermined length to render the beam expansible into structures having longitudinal members and intermediate cross-diagonal truss members, and slitting the portions of the web between said zones so that there are no slits along one or more of the aforementioned lines and suitable end parts are formed for the structures; expanding the beam; and severing the beam transversely medially of the portions from which the slits are omitted to form separate, double expanded structures.

5. That improvement in the manufacture of expanded metal structures which consists in slit-ting the web of a long length of a flanged beam along three longitudinal lines throughout zones of predetermined length so that it will expand into structures having longitudinal and diagonal truss members, and slitting the portions of the web between said zones so that the end slits of one of the aforementioned lines arecross-connected and suitable end parts are formed for such structure; expanding the beam; and severing the beam transversely medially of the portions that form the end parts in order to form separate, double expanded structures.

Signed at East Chicago, Ind, this 22nd day of December, 1927.

ALBERT J. BATES, JR. 

